Jingmai Mountain▲ Travel Tips Only Locals Will Tell You

Jingmai Mountain Yunnan's Puer Jingmai Mountain, with its thousand-year-old ancient tea forests and villages, boasts stunning sea of clouds and sunrises and sunsets. There are 9 villages in Jingmai Mountain applying for World Heritage status: Dongben, Manggeng, Jingmai Dazhai, Nuogang (also called Nuogan), Manghong, Mangjing Upper and Lower Village, Wengji, Wengwa. Firstly, don't rush when visiting Jingmai Mountain; if you do, you'll miss its charm, as if you just circled around the mountain. If you're short on time, a two-day trip can be arranged. If you have more time, consider staying a few more days. Visit in December or January to see the mountain cherry blossoms. In April, the spring tea is on the market, and there are grand festivals of the Blang and Dai ethnic groups. Transportation to Jingmai Mountain is not very convenient; you can choose to drive yourself or hire a car. It takes about 3 hours to drive from Puer, and after entering the mountain, there is a 20-kilometer gravel road that is very bumpy (to protect the tea mountain's ecology, no asphalt has been laid), so slow down to avoid tire blowouts. There are checkpoints when entering and exiting the mountain, so make sure to check the items in the car when renting. Homestays are built by locals themselves. Some hosts, who usually do business outside, may be more commercialized, while others live in the village and revolve around tea planting, picking, and processing. These homestays are very homely; you'll eat corn and such grown in their own fields, and drink their own tea. The hosts are simple and sincere, and the tea processing workshop is also next to the homestay. If you want to visit or experience it, the host will introduce it enthusiastically. The villages are far from the county town, so if you're picky, prepare your own toiletries. The food in the village is very simple, all home-cooked dishes: clear soup with free-range chicken, stir-fried tea leaves with eggs, stir-fried cured meat are all quite delicious. You can usually eat at the homestay, but you should tell the host in advance how many people there are. If you want to see the Tea King Tree, it's best to have a local, preferably the homestay host, lead you there. Do not pick tea leaves at random by the roadside; locals do not like it, and fresh tea leaves cannot be consumed immediately. The host's home always has a tea room where you can taste all kinds of tea. The temperature difference between day and night on Jingmai Mountain is quite significant, so be sure to bring spare clothes. Each village has its own characteristics, and the tea is different. If you ask me how to plan your route, I can only say that you have to experience it yourself to understand the feeling of 'being in the midst of the mountains'.